freezing pipes

GotWood

GotWood

Sayer of Fact
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Location
Maiden, NC
I have a water line that is prone to freezing when temps drop into the teens. I usually just leave it dripping to eliminate the problem but wondering if it would workto just shut the supply off and open the spigot. I won't be able to blow the line out but it would give the line room too freeze and not built pressure. Is my theory correct?
 
What line, and where is it located?

For lines that supply a sink, be it kitchen or bathroom that’s on an exterior wall of the house, it’s good to leave that cabinet open so warm air from the house can fill the cabinet space. Dripping also helps.

While this has been debated as much and as heated as any political discussion, I find closing all Crawl space vents and leaving them closed all year to be best.

Also consider the heat tape strip things if you have access to wrap this line and plug it in.

Also, common mistake is people leaving water hoses connected. Even in the off position spigots can freeze and burst, however they burst on the inside so it’s not visible and they mostly just leak under the house when turned on. Best to leave the hose disconnected during cold weather. The little styrofoam insulator things help too.
I cleaned up enough flooded homes and crawl spaces to learn a few things years ago.
 
I would not expect that to work. Well, I guess it all depends on the configuration of the line and where/why it freezes. But think about the physics of the water flow. With the supply side cut off, you can now only get flow (to get it empty) if air is able to replace the water. So would expect that when you open the tap, it will only drain a little bit, as air is slowly sucked back into the pipe at the tap, but you'll eventually hit a point where air can't flow back up any more, and it will stop flowing, and the remaining pipe is still full of water.
I guess the important question is, when you cut off the water, then open the tap, does a lot drain out?
 
Back
Top